Renovation & Design

Assessing a project at every step avoids messy finishes

Marc LaBossiere 4 minute read Saturday, Aug. 29, 2026

Traditionally, the final day of a bathroom remodel includes the finishing touches: hanging the towel racks; applying silicone where required; and of course the bath and or tub shower enclosure installation.

However, at a recent bathroom-gut-and-remodel this tradition was turned on its head for the first time in my career, and for good reason.

Generally, once a shower base is installed against the wall studs, a moisture-protected backer is mounted on the walls, which overlaps the lip of the base along the top edge of the shower pan.

Much like a tub installation, this lip encourages water to flow back towards the base, should there ever be a breach in the silicone and waterproofing along the bottom edge of the tile. Once installed, the backer becomes the surface upon which the tile is then installed and subsequently grouted.

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Renovation & Design

Photos by Colleen Zacharias photo
Crabapple trees have been the No. 1-selling tree variety this year at Creekside Tree Farm & Nursery, owner Mikkel Grabinski says.

Welcoming Creekside Tree Farm and Nursery

Colleen Zacharias 7 minute read Preview

Welcoming Creekside Tree Farm and Nursery

Colleen Zacharias 7 minute read Saturday, Aug. 29, 2026

The local horticulture industry in Manitoba is a close-knit, supportive community, in which wholesale growers and retail garden centre owners know each other well. Many are long-standing, multi-generational family businesses.

If a local grower decides to expand greenhouse operations or a garden centre changes ownership, it’s big news that ripples throughout Manitoba’s entire horticulture industry, including the gardening community.

So, when a brand-new, independent wholesale nursery and garden retailer sets up business on 236 acres just 35 minutes north of Winnipeg, it merits considerable interest. A new startup in an industry with very few new players stands out.

Creekside Tree Farm & Nursery, a retail and wholesale nursery, is located at 165 Tom Prince Dr. in Petersfield, Man., just down the road from Chesley’s Resort and Campground. The owner, Mikkel Grabinski, is 28. He purchased the site for his nursery in 2019. The past few years, he has worked quietly around the clock to grow his operation by planting thousands of trees, build relationships with wholesale suppliers, and hire a workforce.

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Saturday, Aug. 29, 2026

Renovation & Design

Colleen Zacharias photo
Favourite perennials such as coneflowers, black-eyed Susan, and Russian sage provide late summer colour and a haven of nectar for pollinators.

Plants that will freshen up your garden for a beautiful finale

Colleen Zacharias 7 minute read Preview

Plants that will freshen up your garden for a beautiful finale

Colleen Zacharias 7 minute read Saturday, Aug. 22, 2026

The late August garden puts on a colourful show with favourite perennials such as black-eyed Susan (Rudbeckia), coneflower (Echinacea), and Russian sage (Perovskia) that provide a long-lasting bloom period.

There is also monkshood (Aconitum), with its satiny, purple-hooded flowers and meadow rue (Thalictrum), with airy clouds of tiny, lavender flowers.

The velvety buds of grapeleaf anemone (Anemone tomentosa Robustissima) are just beginning to open now for a mass display of pink-petalled flowers with showy yellow centres.

There is also James Compton bugbane (Actaea simplex) with its creamy white bottlebrush-like flower spikes that wave in the late summer breezes.

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Saturday, Aug. 22, 2026

Renovation & Design

In this configuration, a double-basin sink includes a garburator on the left drain, as well as dishwasher attachments to the hot water feed and trap

Tidy plumbing installations maximize storage, make service easy

Marc LaBossiere 4 minute read Preview

Tidy plumbing installations maximize storage, make service easy

Marc LaBossiere 4 minute read Saturday, Aug. 22, 2026

Too often, as the initial demo process for a bathroom or kitchen project unfolds, the underbelly of the sink area will reveal something of a disaster zone.

There could be partly leaking sink traps, unusable shut-off valves (if there are any at all) and evidence of an ongoing barrage of untidiness. In my world, I truly believe that what lies beneath a sink can and should be as well-planned as the decorative aspects above, even though this area remains, for the most part, behind closed doors

It isn’t that difficult to introduce an esthetic along with the primary functions below the sink. Generally, any sink requires cold and hot water feeds (each with a shut-off valve) and a properly vented drain and trap. Although the first instinct of anyone working under the sink may be to simply get through all these features as quickly as possible, ensuring no leaks occur, it should be well thought out and designed to minimize wasted space, while maintaining some modicum of symmetry.

For most DIYers wishing to upgrade a bathroom sink and vanity themselves, it may be easiest to simply disengage the existing feeds and drain and reattach the new faucet hoses to the old shut-off valves without creating any extra work. Although this sometimes also works for the drain, the placement of the sink above the existing trap will often require modification of the trap placement.

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Saturday, Aug. 22, 2026

Renovation & Design

LYNNE HERMISTON PHOTO
August in the food garden is a time of harvesting and processing. A little patience is needed, too!

August in the kitchen garden

Colleen Zacharias 7 minute read Preview

August in the kitchen garden

Colleen Zacharias 7 minute read Saturday, Aug. 15, 2026

Lynne Hermiston is passionate about growing her own food. Her backyard food garden in south Winnipeg is an amazing example of the abundance and diversity of food that can be grown in a relatively small space.

But it’s also a prime example of how a zest for learning innovative methods can make food gardening more fun.

Hermiston’s backyard is approximately 10 metres wide and 15 metres deep. The growing area consisting of raised beds and a couple of in-ground beds between her deck and back fence is about nine metres deep. There is not a single blade of turf grass in sight.

The design for this attractive and productive space was created by Classic Landscaping four years ago. A series of raised wooden beds mulched with straw are neatly arranged on a light grey, slate-like surface. An inviting centre arbor acts as a focal point and supports climbing plants.

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Saturday, Aug. 15, 2026

Renovation & Design

Photos by Marc LaBossiere / Free Press
The look of the old kitchen transformed into a more modern esthetic.

Kitchen demo leads to baffling discovery

Marc LaBossiere 4 minute read Preview

Kitchen demo leads to baffling discovery

Marc LaBossiere 4 minute read Saturday, Aug. 15, 2026

During the demolition process, I’ve learned to expect the unexpected.

During a bathroom expansion project a decade ago, I discovered live electrical feeds had been left within a closed wall that was insulated with wood chips and old newspapers. I found them the old-fashioned way, when reaching up into the stud cavity. After the jolt wore off, each line was properly terminated into an outlet box.

A similar situation occurred at a recent kitchen facelift project, during a demolition task that hadn’t even been planned.

Provided the existing kitchen cabinets are in good shape and continue to meet your esthetic taste, a homeowner can simplify a makeover by upgrading only certain elements and avoiding the cost of total kitchen cupboard replacement, which in some circumstances can easily render a project cost-prohibitive.

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Saturday, Aug. 15, 2026

Renovation & Design

NewRoots Construction and Landscaping photo
Grow plants year round in this four-season geodesic greenhouse. Raised beds on the outside provide additional growing space.

Imagine a year-round greenhouse

Colleen Zacharias 7 minute read Preview

Imagine a year-round greenhouse

Colleen Zacharias 7 minute read Saturday, Aug. 8, 2026

Do you dream of having your own year-round greenhouse? Imagine walking into a warm greenhouse in the cold month of February to harvest fresh vegetables.

NewRoots Construction and Landscaping is turning that dream into a reality. The Saskatoon-based company specializes in three- and four-season geodesic grow dome greenhouses. The spherical structures are built from triangular, triple-wall polycarbonate panels and utilize passive solar heating systems.

Owners Garret Fisher and Oxana Ossiptchouk ship their greenhouse kits across Canada. (They also have an installation crew, but exclusively for customers who live in Saskatchewan.)

Demand for the grow domes is high, Fisher says, especially in the past two years. “We design and manufacture the grow dome greenhouses and make the kits right in our shop. Now we are building another bigger shop because the manufacturing side is getting quite large.”

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Saturday, Aug. 8, 2026

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Renovation & Design

Marc LaBossiere / Winnipeg Free Press
The rec-room was redesigned from bare studs and concrete sub-floor and fully renovated from head to toe.

Basement re-imagination

Marc LaBossiere 4 minute read Preview

Basement re-imagination

Marc LaBossiere 4 minute read Saturday, Aug. 8, 2026

A remodel of an existing basement provides not only a great opportunity to address dated aspects, but also allows homeowners to reorganize the space.

By repositioning certain walls in key locations, the functionality of various rooms can be greatly enhanced. At a recent three-month basement project, several areas were addressed in this fashion, and the new wall placements have made all the difference.

While it was evident the basement gravely needed a facelift, icing on the old cake simply would not suffice.

As you walked down the stairs, an awkward build-out blocked your line of sight into the big area of the rec room. The build-out, partly at a 45-degree angle, had been constructed to conceal the furnace room area, which had an access door located on the far side. Laundry room access was along the right-side wall along the last stair of the staircase, and the bedroom entry was situated on the opposite side, adjacent to the bathroom door. Lastly, two large appliances invaded the main rec room space, simply because there was no other place to put them.

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Saturday, Aug. 8, 2026

Renovation & Design

Marc LaBossiere / Free Press
The traditional deck design maximizes top decking space and employs railings throughout.

Deck space vs. the view

Marc LaBossiere 4 minute read Preview

Deck space vs. the view

Marc LaBossiere 4 minute read Saturday, Aug. 1, 2026

Undertaking a deck project can often rival a kitchen or bathroom remodel in both time and expense.

As such, it is imperative to have a clear vision of the desired results well before the build gets underway. Once the basic size and footprint of the deck is established, it’s important to determine the best access points. While most homeowners focus on the size of the deck, another important aspect is often overlooked.

When a homeowner wishes for a deck of a certain size, the dimensions are often based on usable top-decking space. In other words, stairs for access from the yard, or even from tier to tier (with multi-level projects) are often overlooked, and there can be slight disappointment when a client realizes that for every stair required, a foot of depth is lost.

So, most homeowners opt for the fewest stairs possible to maximize usable space. This can lead to awkward and unsightly design. Moreover, railings are then necessary along the majority of the deck’s perimeter, which can easily spoil the view.

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Saturday, Aug. 1, 2026

Renovation & Design

SelectaOne photo
New City Lights Dahlia Series is an easy-to-grow flowering powerhouse with dramatically dark foliage.

The ease and versatility of growing potted dahlias

Colleen Zacharias 6 minute read Preview

The ease and versatility of growing potted dahlias

Colleen Zacharias 6 minute read Thursday, Jul. 30, 2026

Dahlias. One would never describe the flowers of this late-summer beauty as subdued or understated. Just the name dahlia is enough to evoke an enviable sigh.

At one time or another, many gardeners, including myself, have purchased dahlia tubers, potted them up in spring, fussed over them in summer, picked their showy blooms for cut flower arrangements, and at the end of the season, dug up the tubers and stored them over winter. It can be very rewarding to grow dahlias from tubers. And yet, dahlias, even with their dazzling flowers, have not been as prevalent in gardens as petunias, impatiens, begonias, or zinnias.

Potted dahlias are rewarding, too, and very easy to grow. In recent years, there has been a surge of new varieties of compact, container-friendly dahlias introduced to the market. These are still tuberous plants, but they are marketed in the same way as annual bedding plants. Selected for their bushier habits and shorter stems (no staking required), these new varieties offer earlier flowering and a long, reliable flowering period. Breeders are also focused on criteria such as better heat tolerance and excellent mildew resistance, essential attributes when summer days turn hot and muggy.

Admittedly, ready-to-grow potted dahlias do not produce dinner-plate-size flowers. But they do bloom prolifically, come in a wide range of colours and unique patterns and perform very well in mixed container arrangements.

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Thursday, Jul. 30, 2026

Renovation & Design

Colleen Zacharias photo
The weeping form of Larix decidua Puli is flanked by the red foliage of Jack Frost maple trees — a cast of intriguing characters with sculptural shapes and textures.

A colourful cast of intriguing characters is the wow factor in this Winnipeg garden

Colleen Zacharias 7 minute read Preview

A colourful cast of intriguing characters is the wow factor in this Winnipeg garden

Colleen Zacharias 7 minute read Saturday, Jul. 25, 2026

There are top brand names that gardeners instantly recognize and seek out when they are shopping for plants. Brand recognition is a powerful driver that influences consumer choices. If the name Iseli Nursery doesn’t ring a bell, it should.

Iseli Nursery, located in Oregon, specializes in uniquely sculpted dwarf conifers that provide year-round colour and structure. Many of the selections are reliably hardy and adaptable to harsh northern climates such as Zone 2 and 3. Iseli Nursery also specializes in hybrid Jack Frost maples (Acer x pseudosieboldianum). A cross between the Japanese maple and the Korean maple, the Jack Frost collection offers outstanding colour and is hardy to Zone 4.

These popular premium plants are supplied to independent garden centres across the United States and Canada. Van der Meer Garden Centre in Île-des-Chênes is the primary source in Manitoba for Iseli plants.

“Iseli plants are as exclusive as it gets,” says Veronica van der Meer, retail store manager. “I would compare their key attributes to some of the esthetics that make a brand like David Austin roses so special. We have customers all the way from Calgary and places in Ontario who have driven to our nursery to buy the Iseli plants we sell, especially the maples.”

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Saturday, Jul. 25, 2026

Renovation & Design

Photos by Marc LaBossiere / Free Press
This new driveway and approach conform to building codes, while meeting the desired layout requirements of the homeowners.

Driveway to heaven: making concrete magic

Marc LaBossiere 5 minute read Preview

Driveway to heaven: making concrete magic

Marc LaBossiere 5 minute read Saturday, Jul. 25, 2026

A rear deck was completed for these homeowners two summers ago, and their next major exterior project involved the introduction of a private driveway.

For years, their garage approach had been gravel, which had become a nuisance in winter — the snowblower regularly tossed stones while clearing snowfalls. So, they called upon me to arrange for a driveway estimate, and subsequently decided to proceed.

Unfortunately, weather delays pushed the project from fall 2025 until this spring. Although the crew was dodging rainstorms, the project did proceed, albeit a few weeks later than expected.

When it comes concrete, I’ve always deferred such projects to trusted sub-trades. Most concrete work requires heavy machinery and a skill set that exceeds my acumen. Although I have dabbled here and there (filling in breaches in a basement floor, and erecting a permanent post for a basketball hoop), big work should be left to those who are proficient within the trade and maintain a vigilant knowledge of current building codes. As such, I called upon my good buddy Roy Marques at Rokkon Construction.

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Saturday, Jul. 25, 2026

Renovation & Design

Three sets of three faux window shutters cleverly conceal the old abandoned window openings set in stucco.

Decorative coverings solve exterior problem

Marc LaBossiere 5 minute read Preview

Decorative coverings solve exterior problem

Marc LaBossiere 5 minute read Saturday, Jul. 18, 2026

After completing a massive feature wall that includes a beautiful, floor-to-ceiling stone fireplace structure with a large flat-screen TV above the mantel and an electric fireplace below — and a symmetrical array of shelving and cupboards on either side — all that remained was the finishing touches on the exterior side of the wall.

Before the project began, three windows had been filled in to accommodate the continuous vertical surface required to complete the interior project. Early this summer, I had occasion to finally address the final steps.

Unlike breaching an exterior wall for the introduction of a window, filling in an opening is far less complicated. With the lintel already in place, framing within the opening is not structural — it simply serves to provide a nailing surface upon which the drywall can be mounted along the interior side, and the exterior sheathing (in this case, three-quarter-inch plywood) can be fastened outside.

Once the stud cavities were filled with insulation and the separate areas were sealed with vapour barrier inside and Tyvek on the outside, the interior processes continued with coats of mud, the required sanding and two coats of matching paint.

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Saturday, Jul. 18, 2026

Renovation & Design

Colleen Zacharias photo
Annemarie’s Dream, a fully double Asiatic lily, comes into bloom just before L.A. Evening Star hybrid lily, situated directly behind, can steal the show.

Spacious rural garden makes smooth transition to urban space

Colleen Zacharias 7 minute read Preview

Spacious rural garden makes smooth transition to urban space

Colleen Zacharias 7 minute read Saturday, Jul. 18, 2026

It’s not uncommon for homeowners to dig up some of their beloved plants when they sell their home and move to another property. But relocating hundreds of prized plants from an established and spacious rural garden to a blank slate is a whole other matter.

In 2023, Sandra Gessner Eggertson and her husband decided it was time to sell their three-acre rural property near St. Andrews. They purchased a home on a quiet street in Winnipeg where Eggertson planned to make a new garden. Their rural property was listed that fall and sold immediately. Eggertson moved in December, but first, hundreds of treasured perennials, including hostas and specialty lilies and iris plants, needed to be transplanted into pots.

With the assistance of a good friend — a fellow lily and iris enthusiast — the enormous task of digging and dividing took three months. The plant divisions were loaded into a truck and transported to her friend’s farmyard, where they spent the winter in a protected location with ample snow cover.

“First we placed bales of straw in the shape of a big square to act as a catch-all for snow,” says Eggertson. “The pots were placed close together inside the square and then covered with mulch. I had very few plant losses.”

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Saturday, Jul. 18, 2026

Renovation & Design

Marc LaBossiere photos / Free Press
The prefab fibreglass shower stall required a custom tiled back wall to get the shower head at the proper height.

Making the best of a bathroom

Marc LaBossiere 5 minute read Preview

Making the best of a bathroom

Marc LaBossiere 5 minute read Saturday, Jul. 11, 2026

This bathroom project turned out amazingly well. However, its journey to completion was far from straightforward.

The homeowner had intended to tackle this renovation himself. But during a fencing project on his property, he asked if I could take a look at his ensuite, where the work had halted nearly seven years prior. It was apparent the seemingly “easy” upgrade presented several obstacles, some of which had not yet come into full focus.

After presenting an estimate on the project, my involvement began midway through the demolition process, which continued until most of the walls were bare and the existing sub-floor was removed.

Initial hurdles included blatant issues — the main venting stack, for example, was within the room, having been concealed inside the old shower stall wall (which no longer exists), and the water and drain feeds for a new wall-mount vanity had yet to be properly routed.

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Saturday, Jul. 11, 2026

Renovation & Design

Jennifer Dumore photo
From left: A trio of flowering crabapple trees -- Courageous, Spring Snow and Thunderchild

Getting creative with flowering crabapple trees

Colleen Zacharias 7 minute read Preview

Getting creative with flowering crabapple trees

Colleen Zacharias 7 minute read Wednesday, Jul. 22, 2026

Flowering crabapple trees have come a long way since Spring Snow Flowering Crabapple and Thunderchild Rosybloom Crabapple were introduced to the market more than 50 years ago.

Spring Snow was developed by Bert Porter at his nursery in northern Saskatchewan in the 1960s. A completely fruitless tree with masses of fragrant white flowers, Spring Snow became the leading crabapple cultivar in North America. Hardy to Zone 2, it grows to a height of 7.6 metres with a robust width of 6.1 metres. While Spring Snow continues to be an option for consumers who do not want messy fruit drop, it is highly susceptible to apple scab, a fungal disease that thrives in wet weather, causing premature leaf drop.

Thunderchild Rosybloom Crabapple was introduced by Saskatchewan breeder Percy Wright in 1974. Slightly smaller than Spring Snow, Thunderchild’s glossy purple foliage made it a top seller for many years. Although resistant to fire blight, a bacterial disease that causes dieback of branches, Thunderchild is also highly susceptible to apple scab.

Another older variety, Pink Spire Flowering Crabapple, is also highly susceptible to apple scab.

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Wednesday, Jul. 22, 2026

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